(IPYS/IFEX) – On 11 October 2003, at 9:30 a.m. (local time), five individuals destroyed equipment belonging to the Parroquiana 90.1 FM community radio station. The station is based in the town of San José de Perijá, Machiques de Perijá municipality, in south-western Zulia state, near the Colombian border. Station director Hercilia León blamed the attack […]
(IPYS/IFEX) – On 11 October 2003, at 9:30 a.m. (local time), five individuals destroyed equipment belonging to the Parroquiana 90.1 FM community radio station. The station is based in the town of San José de Perijá, Machiques de Perijá municipality, in south-western Zulia state, near the Colombian border.
Station director Hercilia León blamed the attack on Onelio Méndez, a member of the San José de Perijá Parish Council, a position obtained by popular vote. She also implicated school bus driver Alexander Saldivia, a Machiques Mayor’s Office employee.
León said that Méndez, Saldivia and three other individuals threw the station’s computer on the floor and kicked it around. They also threw other material from a table to the floor. They threatened to burn down the station and verbally abused Antonio Bencomo, president of the local community foundation, and producer Luz Mery Morán, who were at the station at the time.
León believes the attack is linked to information she obtained from community leader Omaira Petit in the Los Aceitunos de Machiques neighbourhood. Petit indicated that Méndez had taken advantage of his position and relationship with the Mayor’s Office and was using school buses for his family vacations. As a result, the buses were not available to transport local children to vacation activities planned by the community.
According to León, Parroquiana 90.1 FM personnel went to the local prefecture to file a formal complaint about the attack, but were met with a non-committal response. They were sent to the Machiques de Perijá Regional Police’s Defence and Security Secretariat, where they were finally able to register a complaint. They also informed the Ombudsman’s Office and the Public Prosecutor’s Office about the incident.
Machiques Mayor Alfonso Márquez Socorro said the incident is a product of the “state of anarchy” in the country and warned that “everyone should be responsible for their own actions.” “I am not going to defend anyone,” he said, and added that the appropriate authorities should investigate the attack and determine what actions should be taken.
Venezuelan Community Radio Network President José Ángel Manrique said his organisation has contacted Eduardo Bertoni, special rapporteur for freedom of expression of the Organization of American States, and asked the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights for precautionary measures in favor of Parroquiana 90.1 FM.
